''The Strange Countess'' (german: Die seltsame Gräfin) is a 1961 West German

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Josef von Báky Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) * ''Josef'' (film), a 2011 Croatian war film *Musik Josef Musik Josef is a Japanese manufacturer of musical instruments. It was founded by Yukio Nakamura, and is the only company in Japan spe ...

and starring

Lil Dagover Lil Dagover (; born Marie Antonia Siegelinde Martha Seubert; 30 September 1887 – 23 January 1980) was a German actress whose film career spanned between 1913 and 1979. She was one of the most popular and recognized film actresses in the Weimar ...

Joachim Fuchsberger Joachim "Blacky" Fuchsberger (pronounced ; 11 March 1927 – 11 September 2014) was a German actor and television host, best known to a wide German-speaking audience as one of the recurring actors in various Edgar Wallace movies (often a Detecti ...

and

Marianne Hoppe Marianne Hoppe (26 April 1909 – 23 October 2002) was a German theatre and film actress. Life and work Born in Rostock, Hoppe became a leading lady of stage and films in Germany. She was born into a wealthy landowning family and was initiall ...

. It is based on Edgar Wallace's 1925 novel of the same title, and is part of a long-running series of Wallace adaptations produced by

Rialto Film Rialto Film is a German motion-picture production company headquartered in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make ...

. It was shot at the

Tempelhof Studios The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial back ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for exam ...

took place at the

Schloss Ahrensburg Schloss Ahrensburg (Ahrensburg Palace) is a former ''Herrenhaus'' (mansion) and is today referred to as a ''Schloss''. It is located in Ahrensburg in southern Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, not far from the city of Hamburg. History Previous struct ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Helmut Nentwig Helmut Nentwig (1916–2007) was a German art director.Bergfelder p.254 Selected filmography * ''You Can No Longer Remain Silent'' (1955) * ''Bonjour Kathrin (film), Bonjour Kathrin'' (1956) * ''The Simple Girl'' (1957) * ''The Big Chance (1957 ...

Cast

as Lady Leonora Moron (title role) *

as inspector Michael 'Mike' Dorn *

Brigitte Grothum Brigitte Grothum (born 26 February 1935) is a German film actress. She has appeared in 50 films since 1955. She was born in Dessau, Germany. Selected filmography *'' Ripening Youth'' (1955), as Dora *''The First Day of Spring'' (1956), as Tri ...

as Margaret Lois Reedle *

as Mary Pinder *

Rudolf Fernau Rudolf Fernau (7 January 1898 – 4 November 1985) was a German film actor. He appeared in 53 films between 1936 and 1982. He was born and died in Munich, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Traitor'' (1936) - Fritz Brockau * '' In the ...

as Dr. Tappatt *

Richard Häussler Richard Häussler (26 October 1908 – 28 September 1964) was a German actor and film director. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1936 and 1964. He also directed seven films between 1951 and 1957. He was born in Munich, Germany and d ...

as Chesney Praye *

Edith Hancke Edith Hancke (; 14 October 1928 – 4 June 2015) was a German stage, film and television actress. Life and career Edith Hancke, daughter of a bank clerk, grew up in Berlin-Charlottenburg. She received an education at the Lettehaus and, at the ...

as Lizzy Smith *

Eddi Arent Gebhardt Georg Arendt (5 May 1925 – 28 May 2013) was a German actor, cabaret artist and comedian. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1956 and 2002. He was born in Danzig, Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland) and died in ...

as Lord Selwyn 'Selly' Moron *

Fritz Rasp Fritz Heinrich Rasp (13 May 1891 – 30 November 1976) was a German film actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1916 and 1976. His obituary in '' Der Spiegel'' described Rasp as "the German film villain in service, for over 60 years." ...

as solicitor Shaddle *

Reinhard Kolldehoff Reinhard Kolldehoff (29 April 1914 – 18 November 1995) was a German film actor. He appeared in 140 films between 1941 and 1988. He was born and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Gasman'' (1941) - Polizeibeamter (uncr ...

as Oliver Frank aka John Addams *

Alexander Engel Alexander Engel, birth name: Kurt Engel (4 June 1902 – 25 July 1968) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1932 and 1968. He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Saarbrücken, West Germany. He chose the stag ...

as patient *

Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor, equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality. He appeared in over 130 film roles in a c ...

as Bresset *

Albert Bessler Albert Bessler (15 February 1905 – 4 December 1975) was a German film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1942 and 1975. He was born in Hamburg, Germany and died in West Berlin, West Germany. Partial filmography * ''Front Theatre'' (1 ...

as prison warden Duffon (uncredited)

Release

The

FSK FSK may refer to: * FSK (band), a German band * Federal Counterintelligence Service, (Russian ') of Russia * Fiskerton railway station, in England * Forskolin, a diterpene * Forsvarets Spesialkommando, a Norwegian special forces unit * Fort Scott M ...

gave the film a rating of 16 years and older, not suitable for public holidays. The film premiered on 8 November 1961 at the Capitol in

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

References

Bibliography

* Bergfelder, Tim. ''International Adventures: German Popular Cinema and European Co-Productions in the 1960s''. Berghahn Books, 2005.

External links

* 1961 films 1960s mystery films 1960s crime thriller films German mystery films German crime thriller films West German films 1960s German-language films German black-and-white films Films directed by Josef von Báky Films based on British novels Films based on works by Edgar Wallace Films set in psychiatric hospitals Films produced by Horst Wendlandt Films set in England Constantin Film films Films shot at Tempelhof Studios 1960s German films {{crime-thriller-film-stub